Conceived as a stop-gap measure, New York City's cluster site program essentially pays landlords to house homeless people. Now, Mayor de Blasio wants to convert some of those sites directly into affordable units.
Legal obligations require New York to house some of its homeless population, resulting in so-called "cluster sites" in private apartment buildings, with the city footing the bill. The shelter program has been controversial, attracting criticism for its costs, hazards to tenants, and general unsustainability.
However, Nikita Stewart writes, "Under Mayor Bill de Blasio, the city's reliance on the cluster sites has grown along with the rise in homelessness, which has arguably been the biggest failure of his tenure."
Under De Blasio's new plan, announced in December, "the city would use public financing to help nonprofits buy roughly a third of the apartments currently used for the homeless, and then convert the apartments into affordable units, helping the mayor fulfill two goals: lowering homelessness and adding to the city’s affordable housing stock." If landlords refuse to cooperate, eminent domain will apparently be an option.
In the article, Stewart discusses how de Blasio's policy decisions may have contributed to the problem, especially his early reluctance to open new homeless shelters. At the same time, a 2015 report found that cluster site landlords often overcharge the city with impunity. "The lucrative circumstances sometimes led landlords to drive out residents who were not homeless just so they could collect the larger payments from the city."
FULL STORY: De Blasio Seeks to Turn Homeless ‘Cluster Sites’ Into Affordable Housing
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
Mamdani overhauls NYC's Vision Zero plan with 100 new policy goals
The overhaul aims to reduce traffic deaths and make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers through lower speed limits, new safety infrastructure and more.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association